TOnOPHEROLS IN VARIOUS METABOLIC PROCESSES 725 



closely akin to those observed in skeletal muscle as a result of vitamin E 

 deficiency huxe been recorded in the case of cardiac muscle. These include 

 hyaline necrosis and reiilacement fibrosis. A remarkable species variation 

 is evident as regards the onset of the condition and its severity. In the 

 case of herbivorous animals such as the rabbit, guinea pig, sheep, and cattle, 

 the condition is characterized by a rapid onset without pigment deposition. 

 It is frequently the cause of death due to myocardial failure. In sharp 

 contradistinction to the herbivora, the laboratory animals (rat, hamster, 

 cotton rat) may develop extensi\'e focal necrosis and scarring of the 

 mj^'ocardium, with increasing pigmentation, but they survive ^\^thout 

 serious complications for many months. The effect of vitamin E de- 

 ficiency upon cardiac muscle is evident in the rabbit, -"■^^^■^''^■^''•* guinea 



pig, 2", 268, 305 young calf, l«^ •261.262 CQ^m,S07 gheep, 250. 25 1,308 goat,2".258 



rat,2o3.293,3o9,3io mouse,^!^ hamster,2i9 and cotton rat.219 



g. The Role of Vitamin E in the Vascular System. Vitamin E deficiency 

 affects the vascular system under certain conditions; it may bring about 

 profound abnormalities. The chick and other fowl are particularly sus- 

 ceptible to this deficiency, but some instances of vascular changes have 

 been noted in mammals, as a result of an insufficiency in vitamin E. 

 Exudative diathesis and nutritional encephalomalacia constitute the two 

 principal disorders in the chick which result from an inadequate intake of 

 vitamin E. Both of these conditions usually occur during the first two 

 months of life, just as lesions of the skeletal muscle in the duck, the chick, 

 and the pheasant,2^^'259. 260,302 g^^^^j ^j^g gizzard necrosis in the chick and the 

 turkey, 2^2, 302 occur in the young birds. As discussed earlier, a lack of 

 vitamin E in the egg may also result in mortahty of the chick embryo^^ 

 about the fourth day of incubation, as a result of vascular difficulties. 



(a) Exudative Diathesis. Dam and Glavind^'^ were the first to describe 

 a symptom which could be produced in chicks on an artificial diet in which 

 the protein had been thoroughly extracted with alcohol. This condition, 

 kno^^^l as exudative diathesis, is characterized by the presence of large 



303 A. J. Gatz and 0. B. Houchin, Anat. Record, 110, 249-260 (1951). 

 3«* J. H. Bragdon and H. D. Levine, Am. J. Pathol, 25, 265-271 (1949). 

 30^ S. Americano P'reire and B. Figueriredo Magalhaes, Rev. brasil. biol., 3, 91-98 

 (1943). 



306 T. W. Gullickson and C. E. Calverley, Science, IO4, 312-313 (1946). 



307 T. W. Gullickson, Ann. Neiv York Acad. Set., 52, 256-259 (1949). 



308 R. Culik, F. A. Bacigalupo, F. Thorp, Jr., R. W. Luecke, and R. H. Nelson, J. 

 Animal Sci., 10, 1006-1016 (1951). 



303 S. Americano Freire, Brasil-med., 55, 308-310 (1941). 



3'o G. J. Martin and F. B. Faust, Exptl. Med. and Surg., 5, 405-410 (1947). 



3» H, Dam and J. Glavind, Nature, I42, 1077-1078 (1938). 



